Monthly Archive: January 2015

Woot Our week began with palm trees and ended with a blizzard, so Mr. Frugalwoods and I feel we’ve had a genuine bi-coastal experience over the past few days. We were in San Diego all of last week visiting my family–many of whom have now dubbed themselves “frugal-family member name” for example: Frugal Grammy, Frugal Sister, and Frugal Hound’s Cousins (who are both canine and child in their species). 24 hours after our return to the...

We don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, which I’m sure surprises no one given our status as chief frugal weirdos. I could rant about how dumb of a holiday Valentine’s Day is (very dumb) and how terrible of a deal it is to eat out on February 14th (rather terrible indeed). But what I really want to talk about is why my relationship with Mr. Frugalwoods doesn’t need Valentine’s Day. Here’s the thing: every convention of Valentine’s Day has...

Today I’m participating in a grocery cost comparison study with a number of other bloggers hailing from different parts of the country, led by the fabulous Kayla of Shoeaholic No More. Our goal was to evaluate prices for the same grocery items in our respective regions. Reporting in for the Boston area, I did my price checking at a local New England chain of discount grocers, Market Basket, which is where Mr. Frugalwoods and I conduct the majority of...

You’ve asked for it, we’ve promised it. We forgot about it, and then you asked for it again. I’ve actually received so many emails and comments requesting our epically thrifty recipes that I’m literally shamed into posting them. Thank you for your persistence readers, I finally got the clue! Since we never (yes, never) buy lunch out, we needed a reliable, healthy, cheap, tasty, fast solution. Rice and beans to the rescue! Our resident chef Mr. Frugalwoods...

A note to new readers: while we often delve deeply into financial topics (such as Behind the Scenes of a Happy Frugal Marriage and Well Hot Damn, Frugality Works! Our 2014 Savings Rate Revealed), we also like to keep it irreverent and downright silly. Because hey, who doesn’t need an investigative interview series conducted by a dog?! And so, I hope you’ll enjoy Frugal Hound Sniffs! If you’d prefer a more, ahem, financial independence-related post, start here. Aloha Internet....

While Mr. Frugalwoods and I are basking in the San Diego sun with my family this week, I’m delighted to welcome Mr. 1500 from the fabulous 1500 Days to Freedom! Please enjoy his superb post all about how to find frugal friends in our often unfrugal world. The relationships that we have with others are some of the most important factors to living a good and happy life. Surround yourself with Consumer Crazies and your time...

Woot It’s been awhile since ere I wrote that word! Mr. Frugalwoods and I had so many things we were bursting to share with you at the beginning of the new year that the ol’ Weekly Woot & Grumble hasn’t been very weekly of late. Never ye mind, mateys, we’re here today with one of the most rambling of my rambly Woot & Grumbles! Pancakes! Mr. FW made homemade blueberry pancakes last weekend and they...

Greetings frugal friends! This is Part 2 in our Frugal Homestead Series, which explores the finer points of how we’re going to reach our version of financial independence and move to a homestead in the woods in 2017 at the age of 33. Mrs. Frugalwoods and I plan to buy 20+ acres of wooded land, likely with an existing home and outbuildings, in rural southern Vermont. In The Frugal Homestead Series Part 1: Why The Woods?, Mrs. Frugalwoods...

Two years ago, I gave a presentation to my office on how to manage your money as a young professional. Sound boring? The title was “Compound Interest is a Magic Unicorn of Awesomeness.” Why was I giving a presentation about personal finance to my office of software engineers (of which I am one)? Well, I’m known as the finance geek. And compound interest is, in fact, just as awesome as a unicorn. After Mrs. Frugalwoods and I bought a...

Mr. Frugalwoods and I finally did the arithmetic on our 2014 savings and expenditures (as I’m sure you’re all relieved to know). While in any given month of 2014 we vacillated between saving 65%-82%, our average savings rate for all of 2014 is 71.4%. Woot! How did we determine this savings percentage for the year? I’m so glad you asked! Turns out, that simple number is pretty complicated behind the scenes. There’s no “right way” to calculate your savings, but here’s the Frugalwoods methodology: Calculate our annual...

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